What's Most Important
by Ritsu Arasashi
Summary: They say you never know what you have until it's gone. What if you were given a chance to keep it though?
1. Realizations

**A/N: OMG, I think I've managed to write a full chapter fic before actually posting. I think that's a first, sadly, though, cause if it weren't for **_**certain**_** issues, it would have actually been posted a while before now. Anyway, disclaimer time! As always, I do not own the series I am writing about, which, in this case, is Death Note, nor the characters within it. Matt, Mello, Near, L, Halle Lidner, Misa Amane, and Light Yagami/Kira all belong to Obata-sensei and –sensei. The girls that appear in this fic, however, do, in fact belong to me, though their roles will be evident later. I also do not own any Nintendo, Sony, Sega, or Microsoft products mentioned here. (There are **_**far**_** too many to list. ^^;)And, yes, I've twisted the timeline a little, but there's a reason for it. But I won't tell anymore, coz that'll spoil it! Enjoy!**

Ch. 1- Realizations

Fire. That's all I was aware of for the longest time. My first thought, my only thought, really, was of Matt. God, I never meant for him to be killed. I hoped, for a time, that the fire was the fire of Hell. It would serve me right. After all, I'd practically put a bullet through the chest of the one person on Earth that had truly cared for me. I deserved to burn in Hell.

When my sanity finally returned to me, I realized I was still in that stupid van, but the van was on fire. After forcing myself out, I noticed the time: it was still night. Wait. Kira had to have given Takada a Death Note, or some scrap of it. So, why was I still alive? Unless…unless she couldn't spell my name…Thank you, God, for small favors.

Putting the van and the church behind me, I made my way quickly to where Matt had been shot. If anything, I would give him a proper burial and then…well, I'd figure that out later.

The alley was quiet when I came to it, and I slipped along until I spotted his car, all shot up. God, he loved that thing, almost as much as his precious games. I dropped to my knees beside his body and reached out to touch his cheek gently. It felt a little warm, but that was my imagination. It _was_ about ten below out here. (A/N: By "ten below", I mean that as "ten below freezing" which, depending on the system, is either 22° F or -10° C ^^) I let my fingers hover over his chest before I collapsed onto his body, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Matt. So…sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do it. I'll…find those…those bastards…and kill them, I swear I will." I felt a hand touch my back and gasped, looking up to see Matt smiling at me.

"It's okay. You always were rash," he said quietly.

"Matt, how're you still alive?" I whispered as I sat up, noticing it was hard for him to breath. I helped him sit up and rest against the car. "You were shot by Takada's bodyguards."

"Not number three for nothin'" he said, smirking. He opened his vest and pulled his shirt up, wincing at the movement.

"Bulletproof vest," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't think of that."

"'S'okay," he muttered, letting his shirt fall from his hands. "You had more important things on your mind."

"No!" I cried, slapping him lightly on the cheek. "Nothing is more important than the life of my best friend."

He blinked once and then started laughing.

"Don't laugh at me," I growled.

"I'm not…" He coughed a bit and continued. "I'm not laughing at you, idiot. Lately, I've always been Jeevas or Mutt. Guess I didn't think you'd say that."

I stopped. He was right, sadly. Ever since I'd contacted him almost two months ago, I'd barely spoken any civil words to him, let alone acknowledged the place he held in my life.

His coughing brought me out of my thoughts. "Come on, let's get out of here," I said.

"I don't think I can walk to our apartment," he replied, coughing. "And they ruined my baby…"

"I'll get you another car, Matt," I said, standing up. I held out my hand to him.

"I don't need another car," he mumbled before looking up at me in confusion.

I smiled and took both of his hands and pulled him to his feet.

He grunted and almost collapsed again. "There are more important things…"

"Really? Like what?" I said, pulling his arm over my shoulders.

"The life of my best friend."

I glanced over at him, to see his expression.

He grinned, that crooked little grin he used to give me when we were kids.

_Thank you, God_, I thought, _that I get to see that wonderful smile again_. "You're right. That's far more important." I started guiding him down the alley.

Back at our apartment, I sat him down in our kitchen and tried to get some things together. I felt like cursing; we barely had anything. I'd have to make due. _Thank God for that first aid course I took on a whim_, I thought, rolling my eyes.

I came back into the kitchen and dumped the stuff onto the counter. I pulled his goggles off first. They must've used hollow point bullets or something because his face was covered with cuts and scratches. Setting his goggles on the counter, I poured some antiseptic on a rag and started cleaning his face gently. I could hear him softly sucking in a breath with some of the deeper ones. There was blood in his hair, I don't know how, I don't _want_ to know how. Finally, I tossed the bloody rag onto the counter and pulled his vest, and then his shirt, off.

By then, he'd grabbed my wrists and was breathing hard. "It hurts to breath, Mel. I think they busted a rib or two," he said quietly.

"I'll be careful. I promise, Mattie," I said softly.

"Mm." He nodded and let go.

I slipped the vest off carefully and had to bite back a sob when I saw his chest. "Matt…"

His chest was covered with dark bruises.

"I'm…sorry, Mattie," I managed as I felt my throat tightening. Each of these bruises… I reached out and touched the bruise that was directly over his heart. I tried to swallow the lump forming in my throat. If he hadn't…

Matt wrapped his arms around my shoulders and whispered, "It's all right. We're alive, and that's all that matters."

A couple hours later, while he was still asleep, I began packing our things. I hadn't let him leave my sight over that time, but I was getting him away from Kira. I'd almost lost him once, I wasn't about to risk it again. My cell phone rang and I flipped it open. It was Near.

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped, shoving some of Matt's things into a bag.

"Oh, temper, temper," Near replied over the line. "I'm surprised you survived, though."

"Yeah, you and me both."

"Mello? I want you to meet me today, or some time this week."

I growled. "Why?"

"We need to discuss the night of the 26th." The line went dead after that.

"Dammit!" I flung the cell phone onto the couch angrily. I wanted to be out of here by midnight.

I felt Matt wrap his arms around my waist from behind and rest his chin on my shoulder. "Near?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I replied. "He wants to discuss that night."

"Oh." I felt his arms tighten just a little before he said, "I guess we'll see him tonight then."

"Guess we will."

By noon, I'd gotten us two one-way plane tickets to America, and our things packed and ready to go. Matt wore my jacket with the hood up and he stayed a little behind me as we went into the building.

"Ah, Mello, so glad you could join us," Near said from his spot on the floor, surrounded by his toys. Lidner was standing behind him.

I felt Matt grab my wrist and I realized I'd started to ball up my fist. I nodded and forced myself to relax.

"What happened the night of January 26th?" Near said, not looking at any of us, but at his toys.

"I arranged to kidnap Kiyomi Takada," I said.

"Mm-hm."

"I had an accomplice cause the disturbance while, in the chaos, I loaded her onto my motorcycle and took off. Lidner called the bodyguards after my friend and nearly killed him," I told Near.

"I see. Halle? Why did you allow Mello to leave, but you stopped his accomplice?" the boy asked pointedly.

"I wasn't aware, Near," she replied.

I scoffed, but Near said, "Be that as it may. For your accomplice to escape, that would prove elementary. You, Mello, are a different story. How would you have managed to escape?"

"I suppose Takada misspelled my name," I replied.

"A valid assumption," Near replied. "After all, spelling is…essential." He looked up at me and I knew he was aware that Halle didn't need to know anymore than that. Sometimes, how much we think a like is annoying. And then, there are times like this, when I'm rather glad for it. Near's probably the only person aside from Matt that I could hold an intelligent conversation with. Well, those that are alive, anyway. L was a pretty good conversationalist when he was alive, too. "So, the assumption, then…" He moved a few figures. "…would be that Kira forced Takada to kill herself, correct?" He looked back up at me with light curiosity.

"There were no screams when I managed to get out of the van," I answered.

"I see, so…" He trailed off, muttering to himself as he went back to his toys. "…Perhaps, no, that can't be right…"

"Could Mikami have the second note?" Matt asked suddenly.

Near glanced back at us. "That is what we believed at first, but, it's possible that Kira has a fake one someplace. Perhaps, we can complete our plan…"

"Plan? Look, I don't care how you catch Kira," I said. "But don't expect any help from us. I'm through."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Near, lives are being lost. _We_ almost lost ours a few hours ago."

"And yours are more important than innocent Japanese?" He was looking at me, his eyes blazing. That was far too much emotion for him. Did this case really mean that much to him? Or was it something else?

"That's not what I said," I stated bluntly. "But let me tell you, I didn't start on this case because I wanted to stop a murderer."

"I'm aware of that," Near said drily. "You did it simply because if you caught Kira before me, you'd be better than me. Suddenly had a change of heart?"

"Found something more important." With that, I turned on my heel and left, Matt following.

Later, on the plane, Matt said, "You've wanted to be better than Near since back at Wammy's, what's changed?"

"Like I told Near," I said. "I found something more important."

"What?"

"Something that's been in front of me the whole time," I said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. "You."

"Don't tell me you feel _that_ way, now," he answered, looking out the window.

"No," I said forcefully. "I'm just saying you mean more to me than being better than Near. You're my best friend."

"It's just…never mind," he mumbled, pulling his hand from mine.

"No, what is it?" I asked quietly.

"As close as we are, were, and have always been—isn't that a bit queer?" he said.

"How? Hey, Matt, you remember what that lady told us back at Wammy's?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"She said your mate, or your spouse, is supposed to be your best friend," I said.

"I understand that," he said. "But how does that answer my question?"

"Think about it. If your mate is supposed to be your best friend, then best friends should be as close as lovers, only platonically, of course," I explained.

He looked at me then, curiosity, anxiety and relief in his eyes.

"So," I said, touching his cheek with my fingertips. "It's perfectly alright for us to be as close as we are."

"Then why'd you push me away then?" he asked, his voice strained.

I knew he was referring to my thirteenth birthday. He tried to hug me and I shoved him away, calling him a few rude names before walking away. "I didn't understand, back then, that we could be as close as we were and not be gay," I whispered, pulling my hand away. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"It's okay," he mumbled. He pulled out his GBA and started playing. "I didn't really understand either…"

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder, listening to him tapping the buttons. Even the annoying tones of Spyro weren't that aggravating. Just having him there, that was more than enough for me.


	2. New Beginnings

I must have drifted off because I woke to him cussing. Opening my eyes, I looked down at his game and noticed the light was red, and extremely dim. "Matt…"

" Dammit!" he cursed as the screen went blank. He shoved it back into his pocket angrily. "Yeah, Mel, what is it?"

"How long was I asleep?" I asked quietly.

"Bout three hours. You didn't happen to bring any batteries, did ya?" he replied.

"Mm-mm, I didn't have the time," I said. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I'll make due."

I sighed and said, "Mattie?"

"Hm?"

"Let's talk."

"About what?" he said, looking out the window.

"About you," I answered. "About what you did after I left."

"Not now," he said. "I won't talk about that just yet."

"Why not?" I felt like pouting, as childish as it seemed. I needed to know how badly I'd hurt him; how much I needed to repay.

"Because anyone could overhear and I want this to stay between the two of us," he answered, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. He turned his head to the side just a bit and kissed my hair lightly. "I promise I'll tell you, when we're alone."

"Mm." I closed my eyes and squeezed his hand in return. We still had a long road ahead of us, a journey we were just beginning.


End file.
